


Bitterness and Jealousy

by sugarmaples



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Bottom Kylo Ren, Daddy Issues, Kylo's hair, M/M, Power Play, Sarcasm, Top Hux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 08:43:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6847564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarmaples/pseuds/sugarmaples
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“It’s okay if at the beginning you have to pretend you’re saying this shit ironically. You have a delicate ego. But you’re going to have to learn to say my title like you mean it.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bitterness and Jealousy

“Still bitter over not being able to stop that scavenger girl from escaping?” Hux asked finally.

Kylo had been staring silently out the window of the Finalizer for a good few minutes now. He turned slowly towards the general and exhaled loudly through his mask.

Trying to sound more like Vader, Hux guessed with a twinge of annoyance.

“Who’s the bitter one, if you’ve been standing here watching me this entire time?” Ren shot back.

“I’m watching you because there was a highly important meeting you were supposed attend fifteen minutes ago. Typically I would check the security cameras if a high-ranking officer is unexpectedly late to a meeting, but at this point your tardiness is expected.”

Hux kept his pale gaze steady on Ren’s mask. He was used to looking people square in the eyes, so the knight’s mask still unnerved him slightly, even after the years they had spent working together. He couldn’t help but feel that the gift of the Force had been wasted on this man - sloppy, erratic, uncontrolled and seemingly uncontrollable. Of course, he corrected himself, no one was uncontrollable in the hands of the right person.

The general often found himself wondering what Kylo’s face looked like underneath his mask. There were rumors the knight had taken it off in front of others before, but the episodes were few and far between. He snuck glances of Ren in the Finalizer’s gym, but always seemed to catch him at just the wrong time and only see the back of his head: a mane of thick black hair that cascaded over his lithe, muscled back...

Hux pushed the thought away. _He took the damn thing off for that scavenger girl - although I’m sure there’s video of that interrogation -_

“Have the meeting without me,” Kylo finally responded after what seemed like hours.

“You cannot shirk your duties on this ship because you’ve been distracted by your dreams of some Rebellion girl,” the general hissed.

The instant the words left his mouth, Hux knew he had jumped to the girl again too fast. If having Commandant Brendol Hux as a father hadn’t taught him well enough when to hold his tongue, his years in the Imperial Academy had pounded it into him irreversibly: Emotions are weakness, and you never reveal weakness.

Something in him was jealous that Kylo had never had to deal with such a father and such an Academy. But the lack of suffering had only made him soft, he reasoned, and anyway the constant pressure of working under Snoke would probably make up for it if he didn’t crack completely first.

“I don’t have to look inside your head to know what you’re thinking,” Kylo explained, as if to a child, “because every time you accuse me of something, it’s whatever you fear you’re doing yourself.”

“Don’t make this about me, Lord Ren.” The title felt thick on Hux’s tongue, even though he only ever used it sarcastically.

“You’re right. I’m sure you would prefer we talk about me.”

“I have no idea what you mean. And this is a waste of valuable time. The past few weeks have held serious setbacks for the First Order. You--”

When Hux looked up, Kylo was holding his helmet loosely in one hand, the other one pushing a few strands of hair out of his face. His eyes were wide and dark, almost childlike, and deceptively innocent. He knew he could easily get lost in them, looking for the subtle flecks of light that made eyes so interesting to look at.

Suddenly, Hux felt the telltale ache of the Force pressing into the side of his head.

“Stop that,” Hux said aloud.

“Stop what?”

“Stop looking inside my head. I can feel it, and it’s unprofessional.”

“If you have a complaint about professionalism, _sir_ ,” Kylo growled, “you should see what you’ve been thinking about for the past couple of minutes.”

Hux cursed whatever part of his chest tightened when Ren said  _sir_ , however sarcastic.

“It’s natural for me to wonder what the face of a man I’ve been working with for months looks like! With how secretive you are about it, I was sure you must be horribly disfigured,” he complained.

“Lying to me is useless, which is a shame since it’s one of the only skills you have,” Kylo remarked, gaze slowly washing over Hux’s slender frame.

“So you’re jealous of Rey,” Kylo prompted nonchalantly.

“I have no idea what you’re going on about, and if you have a _free moment_ , I’d like to talk about the future of the Finalizer and further uses for Starkiller technology,” Hux said coldly.

“And did you want to talk about it in my private quarters, General?” Kylo asked. “It might be better. No one could overhear us there, with the soundproof walls we had put in.”

Hux felt the blood rush into his face. He resented his lack of control over the situation, but there was little he could do about it but play along.

“Yes, I suppose that’s the best way to go about it,” Hux reasoned. He followed Ren silently into an elevator, making a mental note to lead the way when they walked out.

He glanced over at Kylo’s prominent cheekbones and the hint of color that was rising to his face - embarrassment, maybe? The metallic dings as the elevator passed each floor felt strangely distant.

“After you,” the Knight said as the door opened.

_I never thought to consider how hard it would be to maintain the appearance of dominance when one person can read the other’s mind, Hux thought hopelessly as he stepped out onto the glassy floor of the hallway._

Kylo sniggered.

“What’s so funny?” Hux snapped.

“That you didn’t consider _how hard it would be_ ,” Kylo said, mocking Hux’s uptight Arkanian accent.

“Oh, grow up. And get out of my head. No wonder you never learned how to have a normal social interaction if you’re basing your interactions on the private thoughts of others.”

“Well I’m sorry I never had the kind of example you had growing up,” the Knight rebutted dramatically.

“Daddy issues already? We’re not even in your bedroom yet.”

 _The fucking nerve._ The general wasn’t even a force user. He was completely replaceable by another well-bred automaton. Another general with hair just as orderly, eyes just as blue, a figure just as wiry and hungry. Another goddamn distraction.

Kylo struggled to suppress the blush creeping back up his cheeks and entered the key code for his quarters quickly and awkwardly, callused hands half covering the numpad in an effort to hide it.

“No need to be so secretive. I set most of the important codes in the building a few years back,” Hux remarked casually. “82337, for your room.”

“I know you set it,” Kylo grumbled. 

“At least I allowed you the pleasure of a code that spells out something you’re unlikely to forget - _Vader_.”

“What other kinds of _pleasures_ are you going to allow me, _General_ ,” Kylo countered sarcastically.

“Oh, all kinds,” Hux said softly, running a hand through the taller man’s thick, dark hair. “It’s okay if at the beginning you have to pretend you’re saying this shit ironically. You have a delicate ego. But you’re going to have to learn to say my title like you mean it.”

There was something enticingly forbidden about Hux’s calm and deliberate voice. Kylo never got to hear him use it during meetings and speeches. The pair paused just inside the doorway of Kylo’s room.

“Or maybe you won’t have to learn, if you’re moaning it.”


End file.
